Populist right-wing movements have always preached the idea that foreign workers come to our country and take our jobs. This is an immortal argument for, no matter how often it gets refuted, it never loses its allure.

It’s always fascinated me how nobody blames the employers. It’s not like jobs are there in the wilderness of our glorious society, threatened by these alien poachers whose thirst can never be satiated. Even if the argument were true—and it isn’t—surely those choosing to pay others less for doing the same job should bear most of the responsibility.

It sounds to me like we’re blaming the deer for allowing themselves to be hunted by someone who just happens not to be us.

Populist poachers

We have accepted that people need to learn to sell themselves. Anyone involved in hiring will know that it’s not about being able to do the job but about convincing others of the fact. Entire departments contain people who get their jobs and hire others based on that principle. Now and then, they make a mistake, and someone valuable slips through the mediocrity net.

Let's hope someone someday has the brilliant idea that perhaps it is those doing the hiring who should learn not to be sold snake oil all the time.

Snake oil resources

Most people read fewer books than they would like to read. Surveys consistently show this. Indeed, an alarmingly high proportion of the population does not read at all.

Since people both believe that reading is good for them and still don’t do it, our problem has more to do with habits than general wisdom. No need to preach that people should read more. Unsurprisingly, some of the bestselling books are on habit formation.

Too bad most of those who buy them won’t read them.

Reading is both popular and unpopular at the same time

My favourite part of software programming is how it has exposed me to logical problems again. I studied logic briefly as part of philosophy in high school, something I fell in love with but never subsequently pursued at university or in my professional life.

Logical issues can be infuriating. One may have all the pieces of the puzzle and the instructions on how to solve it and still spend hours to find the solution. It is addictive, too, because one mostly finds a solution. It’s fascinating to come to terms with the fact that logic is always subjugated to the validity of the premises and the context we have to work with and within.

Extrapolating this wisdom to politics and life isn’t particularly arduous but incredibly torturous.

Incredible torturous extrapolation

Reading a well-crafted argument on an issue I have been pondering for a while has shed a blinding light on the topic. I cannot express properly how much joy I derive from someone making sense of an issue that has proven elusive until now.

It’s not the same as learning something new, although the feeling is similar to casting away the clouds of ignorance. This feeling of someone else—wiser, better informed, more insightful—making sense of something feels like I had the pieces of a puzzle I hadn’t quite put together yet. I had the frame, perhaps, some of the parts, but I hadn’t figured out how to connect the entire picture.

The best one can learn from this humbling experience isn’t to doubt oneself or trust an illuminating mentor unconditionally. Instead, one should learn how others solve the riddles we are bound to keep encountering.

Blindings lights, squinting eyes and eternal learners

There is a time for surrounding oneself with the best. A time to get better.

There is a time for surrounding oneself with those who want to be there. A time to enjoy time.

Martian Thoughts

Populist poachers

Snake oil resources

Reading is both popular and unpopular at the same time

Incredible torturous extrapolation

Blindings lights, squinting eyes and eternal learners

A time to enjoy time